It was 3 pm, and Caren had just yanked herself out of her bed. In a hurried rush, she got ready in a very unprofessional manner and dashed outside towards the beach. Again, forgetting to close or lock the door to her house. Luckily, her brother, Michael, was used to this and closed it behind her. 

 Her hair a very curly mess like usual, and her giant sweater hanging over top of her thin tank-top and shorts. Her glasses were blurry and she could barely see, but she tried her best to not trip. Not that it worked, because she tripped over Ivy Jefferson's toe, earning her a scolding from the girl and her defensive friends. Caren quickly apologized and continued. By the time she reached the beach, it was 4. Even though it was a 10-minute walk. Oh, Caren.

 She checked her phone for the first time today to see 18 messages from 'Kiley :)'. 

'Remember to come to beach, okay? :)'

'I hope you remembered.'

'Caren? Are you sleeping in again?'

'Care-bear!! >:('

'Please???'

'Oh my god Caren! You're going to be the last one again!'

'We might leave without you...'

'Terry got here before you. How?! You must be dead.'

 And so on. Caren made sure to type a reply.

'So sorry babe! I'm here! I had some work to do.' She lied.

 Instantly, she got a reply. 'Uh-huh. We are by the cabins. Come on over.'

'Okay!' And the texting ended. Caren sprinted down the stairs, and across the beach towards the cabins. On her way there, she dropped her scarf from out of her bag. "Crickets and sticks!" She said, as she went and picked it up. Quickly, she turned around and hit bumped right into someone.

 Her skinny frame was knocked right back down onto her bottom. She looked up, adjusted her glasses to see a very pretty shirtless guy.

 "Sorry!" He said, with a light chuckle. "I didn't see you there!" He extended his hand. She didn't take it, and instead just got up. "It's fine." She said. "I-I'm not hurt. Sorry. Um. Bye." Away she went, running away from him. Caren knew that guy. He happened to be Brice Winter, her fellow welding student. She wasn't into welding as much as she was him. She had never really talked to him, but he was a pretty nice guy, and very handsome. She drew him pretty often. It wasn't a crush, it was more of an aesthetic admiration, but she wasn't keen on socializing either way.

 She shook her head and refocused, running along the sand again. 

 Eventually, she reached the cabins and saw Kiley on the deck of one.

 "Kiley!" She called up to them, "You can't go onto the deck unless you rented it!" Caren crossed her arms but first pushed her hair out of her face.

 "I know. I did." Kiley started walking down the stairs, smiling. "For a week. Nice, right?"

 Caren was shocked. "You mean..." She started, a finger pointed accusingly, "You spent like, 700 dollars on a cabin?"

 "Yup." Kiley smiled and reached for Caren's hand. "And guess where you get to sleep?"

 "I'm invited?"

 "Of course, shithead." 

 "Then... Where do... I sleep?" Caren turned a little bit red.

 Kiley suddenly was holding Caren's hand close to their face, moving closer to them. "You..." They took a breath. "Get to sleep..." Caren was quite visibly nervous. "On the couch." Kiley finished their sentence, making Caren glare.

 "Don't do that!" She remarked. "It's embarrassing..."

 "Caren!" Another voice came into range. Caren looked toward the deck to see Terry, smiling.

 "Hi, there Terrence." She smiled at him, backing up from Kiley's grasp. "Happy early birthday!" Caren walked up the deck to stand next to him. 

 He, without hesitation, pulled her into a hug. "You're so adorable, Caren." He said as she turned red. "T-Terry! You know that stuff is-"

 He backed up and laughed. "Inappropriate, I know. Honestly, Care-bear."

 Before Caren had a moment to reply, Jesse was beside her, giving her a noogie, making her already messy hair even worse. "Care-bear!" She cried. 

 "You cute little thing! How are you?"

 Caren hated being called cute. Only because she couldn't stop turning red. Her heat liked to stay in her cheeks for some reason. It got quite annoying.

 "Hey, Jesse." She rolled her eyes and smiled nonetheless. She assumed all the others were inside, which made her worry for a moment.

 "Kiley. Are we staying tonight?"

 "Yup."

 "Oh crap! Can I run and get some stuff?"

 "Nope."

 "Wha-?!"

 Kiley smiled as Jesse held Caren in place. "You're already late. You might as well stay."

 Caren sighed but smiled. "Okay." She replied with a soft tone.

 "But only because I love you guys."